Thursday, January 14, 2016

Timberwolf Trail - Week 19 - 2015-16 Edition

After three days of being stuck inside due to subzero wind chills, getting out today was essential. The cold, crisp air did us wonders.

Before we ventured out, we read a fun twist on Old Man Winter entitled Is That You, Winter?, by Stephen Gammell. After practicing our questioning and predicting with this terrific text, we continued our bird feeder project as we started a brand new bird feeder construction. Though our toilet paper roll feeders are biodegradable, we were excited about more environmentally-friendly options. We did some research and found some popsicle stick options. The class decided on making colorful shape feeder. This week, we focused on squares. Now that they are dry, we will attach pipe cleaners that can be re-used. Our snack of choice will be cheerios.

We also continued our freezing liquid investigations. Last week, we make "ice ornaments" with water and food coloring. This week, we made them with apple juice. However, with temperatures a balmy 35, the ornaments were not ready to be hung at the end of the day. We will check again tomorrow morning on our daily hike and Friday trip to the garden for composting.

For easier observation, we deposited our not yet frozen ornaments in the snow outside our classroom windows. Then it was off to the trail to go on a track hunt. My cherubs did have to stop at our oak tree classroom and make snow angels.

After tracking animals near the oak tree classroom, we decided to cut the woods on the way to the snowshoes rack. We found plenty of tracks along the way. I knew snack time must have been close as the class turned to snacking on snow along the way. Some also had fun putting snow on or faces to make snowbeards.

The class found this nest near the treeline and is excited to check it out regularly to see if we can figure out who might have made it.

Then, it was snowshoe time. Five and six year olds and snowshoes provide an interesting dynamic. Testing our perseverance, problem-solving, and communication sills, all children were able to get their shoes on and traverse the freshly fallen snow from the previous day. As with pretty much everything, practice makes progress so I am excited to keep snowshoeing until we are pros! Based on their happy smiles and excited voices, I don't think they'll mind practicing more.

UPDATE:

Our apple juice ornaments didn't freeze so we will recheck after the weekend. We did however finish and hang up our new bird feeders.